PaperTrey Ink Blog Candy

Wow..check this out...Passion for Paper Trey is giving out some blog candy with PTI goodies (stamp set & paper!)If you'd like to win some free stuff, head on over to http://apassionforpapertrey.blogspot.com/ and see what they're giving away! ;)

Stampin' Blog Candy

I've totally got back into stamping. While I've been scrapping since I was in high school in my early 20s i regularly stamped..and stamping was my first foray into crafting with other people. As I got into scrapping ('the safe way') and all the tools and crops etc in my late 20s early 30s..stamping fell by the wayside..but there are so many cool stamping companies out there again...I've been bitten. Of course I now stalk so many stamping blogs...and here's one to boot!

Wendy over at Paper Therapy is having a great blog candy contest. I became a follower and perhaps you could support this gal too. Take a look, you will be glad that you did.
Now..hope to get some stamping done with some relatively new goodies this weekend!

New Client Project

Photobucket Album

I need a Marine Air Horn!

Seriously...i've been deluged with spam telemarketer calls..what's with the Do Not Call list..is that just a waste of a server/website somewhere? How do these people continue to call when you've asked them to remove you ..and you're on the list. The latest one has been a series of hangups from a 239 area code, of course you call it back and it has a random' the # you've reached is out of service', except it rings a couple of times first! I found this great site while googling the #..and one of the posters had a great idea about blasting an air horn in the callers ear...I'm all for it. I mean I know there are actually honest people out there trying to get by as telemarketers, and those people I ask nicely to be removed from the list..and maybe even give them my own DS spiel..but these people are pure scam artists and deserve to lose a bit of their hearing!!

Take the Quiz and Share Your Results!

Post it Like you Stole It

and that is exactly what I did! I stole this from Laurie's Blog. The idea is that the things in bold are things you've done.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run **grand slam baby!**
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke (something else you don't want to hear again)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt *the Calistoga one*
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater *makes me sad my nieces and nephews etc wont!*
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check (A very long long time ago)
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone **bummer made it 381/2 years without no less too
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (A few times in High School)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone's life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake &**blech..not so Great!**
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day (many times!)

Got Grass?

As I rounded Laguna Honda one evening, I was amazed to see several hundred goats eating the dry grass on the hill. I had seen a story about this on the news for use in the South bay and East Bay..but have never seen it used in person..and certainly not in San Francisco. They were there for a couple of days..but i never had my camera when i passed by, and didnt really want to carry it on the bus.

By the time the weekend came they were gone. But one day as I took the bus back up the hill, I noticed they were on the backside of the hill. By Wednesday they were up to the road as people stood and gawked. On Thursday, I took the bus up the hill, and it seemed they were all on the road side of the hill, I got home, grabbed my camera real quick hopped in the car down the hill parked, and walked to the fenced area. Most couldnt be bothered with me..of course there's always one. this one falled me up and down the entire length of the goats...with this piece of grass sticking out of his mouth..not sure if he wanted me to feed him more (most likely) or didn't even know it was there. I leaned over the fence at one point to take a picture of a couple of kid goats.and he felt the need to nudge me to pay attention to him...I snapped one last shot..and told him goodbye.


Have you seen the goats used for eating the wild grass in your area?

Wednesday Hero

It's been a while since I posted...(although see my Twitter updates down on the side..i post there many times..a DAY!)..and I know tomorrow will be a great day of heros and remembrances..but this Wednesday hero is another hero, here at home!



Staff Sgt. Andy Pena performs in-flight calibrations on a HH-60 Pave Low while flying Sept. 3 over Ellington Field, Texas. He and members of the 55th Rescue Squadron deployed from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., to Ellington Field in response to Hurricane Gustav with less than 24 hours after notification. Sergeant Pena is an aerial gunner.These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams. Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To LookThis post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Wednesday Hero

A coworker was just asking how my ankle was and i said healing..although small and looked almost artificial...I now feel small in comparison to this Hero!!!

Spc. Kisha Makerney23 years old from Fort Towson, Oklahoma 120th Engineers, Oklahoma Army National Guard. Spc. Kisha Mackerney isn't being profiled today because of something she did on the battlefield. She's being profiled because her spirit and determination. In 2002, Makerney joined the Oklahoma Army National Guard out of a sense of patriotism, because, as she put it, "I love our country and our people." Between 2004 and 2005, she served in Iraq as a gunner and helped provide battalion security. She returned home in early 2005 and was in a terrible motorcycle accident on June 25, 2005. The front wheel of her brand new bike had blown out and sent her flying into a highway sign. She looked up at her now mangled bike and was angry. That's when she noticed that her left leg below the knee was missing. The first thing she thought of when she saw her leg was that her military career was over.Makerney pulled herself out of the ditch that she had landed in and was able to flag down a passing motorist. She was taken a hospital in Hugo, Oklahoma before being flown to Dallas, Texas. As soon as word spread about her accident, her fellow soldiers, her second family, rallied and rushed to her bedside. "Even before I was out of surgery they were waiting in the halls," she said. Continue reading Spc. Kisha Makerney's story here. There are some despicable comments by a few readers on the story. Just ignore them. These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero. We Have Every Right To Dream Heroic Dreams. Those Who Say That We're In A Time When There Are No Heroes, They Just Don't Know Where To Look. This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Iron Chef - Secret Ingredient Limes

I belong to a cooking and recipes meetup with my friend Anjanette. Neither one of us has been able to make the actual meetups, but they started a new 'event' in april..a virtual event called 'Iron Chef'. Basically the organizer picks a secret ingredient, and then you make a recipe, post a link to the recipe and post pictures. You're supposed to post it at the meetup site, but I thought I'd post it here...then Shell will be happy I blogged..and I'll have posted. I actually made items for April (Secret Ingredient - Rosemary) and May (secret ingredient - vidalia onions) but never got them posted in time. I'm barely making this months posting.

I had picked a few recipes for the limes, but a drink..a dessert..and finally settled on an entree, in the interest of time, and killing two birds with one stone. We wanted to BBQ yesterday, use up some of the freezer o beef, and get to using some limes...so Grilled TBones with Chipotle Chili Rub and Cilantro Lime Compound Butter it was. I thought I'd post in P-Dub style..without the fabulous photography (hopefully it will be better by end of September).

the Cast of Characters - T bone steaks, lime, cilantro, butter (we used I Can't Believe It's not), ground chipoltle pepper, sweet paprika, Steak Seasoning (we used a combo of Seasoned Salt and a Salt free seasoning blend).

Preheat a two-burner grill pan over high heat or a table-top electric grill to high or preheat the outdoor grill.

Combine the steak seasoning blend with hot chipotle pepper and sweet paprika. A tablespoon is about a palm full of powdered or ground seasonings. Rub the seasoning blend into the steaks, distributing the spices evenly among them. Go wash up. Using tongs, place steaks on screaming-hot grill, carefully place the thin tip of 1 steak facing the wide end of the next so that all 4 steaks fit onto the grill pan or grill grate at the same time. Cook steaks 6 to 7 minutes on each side for medium doneness. Remove steaks and let them rest so that the juices can redistribute, 5 minutes.

So the recipe calls for Butter, but Pierre doesnt have butter, so I was a little scared, but used I can't believe it's not butter (i'm leary about melting it..but it did ok, and tasted just fine...and I'd use it again for this purpose (use it on toast and veg all the time )

You need to zest and juice the lime(s).

Cut butter into chunks. (or as we did..scoop a couple tablespoons) Place butter in a bowl. Place bowl in microwave and cook on high for 15 seconds.

To chop herbs super-fine, hold the tip of your knife on a cutting board and move the back of your knife up and down very fast going over the herbs again and again.

Stir in chopped cilantro and lime zest and juice into the butter using a rubber spatula. Transfer the butter onto a large strip of plastic wrap. (we left in the tub..since it had never been a cube..and had been 'soft' to begin with, i wasnt sure it would 'harden' in the roll). Gather the ends of the plastic wrap in on 1 hand and use a straight edge, like a small cookie sheet pan, to push the butter back and away from your body making the butter take on a log shape. Gently roll the log wrapped in plastic back and forth on the countertop to evenly round out the shape. Twist up the extra wrap on the ends and place the compound butter log into the freezer to make the butter cold enough to slice again.

NOW! Grab that glass of wine sitting on the counter. Take a big swig. Thank God for grapes. Then…

When ready to serve, top steaks with disks of sliced compound butter and serve with salad or vegetables on the side.

The actual ingredient listing.

• 2 sticks butter


• 3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro leaves


• 1 lime, juiced and zested


• 2 tablespoons steak seasoning blend for the grill


• 1 tablespoon chipotle (smoky) ground chili powder or dark chili powder


• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika


• 4 T-bone steaks, 1 1/2 inch thick
  

I would definitely make this again...we even had leftover 'butter'. Keep in mind..the rub is VERY spicy, so you definitely need the butter to 'tone' it done a bit . I also used leftover cilantro on our biscuits (my family should buy stock in Pillsbury), and leftover lime juice on the grilled asparagus.

Happy iced Tea Day!

My google home page, has a module called 'reasons to drink' (not that I'm looking for one..but they're funny). Today it notes that it's National Iced Tea day..and suggests Long island (i think I've had a couple in my life..but not something I'd order just because anytime soon)..instead I opted for some Sweet Tea.

Mind you..i didnt get the Sweet Tea because of National Iced Tea day..but because I was able to escape and drive myself to the ortho and grocery store, and decided to reward myself with one of these...actually I got two!

I actually prefer with splenda..but for the price, who can pass up. I wish we had it in the gallon jugs at the grocery store like they do at my sisters!!!

On a side note left leggged driving is pretty unnerving! I need to let my carpool buddies know i'm not going to be able to drive on the freeway!!

One Word

I promptly went through and answered each question. BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO. It's undeniable. You can't resist the urge, no matter how cool you are.
So don't resist. Copy and paste the questions below and replace with your ONE WORD only answers in the comments section of the post. This is an especially difficult challenge for me who can never use one adjective at a time, can't possibly use less than three examples in a sentence and likes to overstate things just a little bit. OK. FINE. A LOT. Deal with it.
Plus, it's always cool to see what other people come up with. And besides, this friendship of ours? It's getting to be a bit too one-sided for me. I'm like that annoying bad friend who talks, talks, talks and can't shut up and you never get a word in edge-wise. SO LOOK. THIS IS ME SHUTTING UP.
For now.
*Remember - just one word answers. It's harder than you think.
1. Where is your cell phone?table
2. Your significant other? bubalicious
3. Your hair? matted
4. Your mother? nurse
5. Your father? away
6. Your favorite thing? STARBUCKS!
7. Your dream last night? norco
8. Your favorite drink? cosmo
9. Your dream/goal? contentment
10. The room you're in? den
11. Your hobby? scrapbooking
12. Your fear? everything
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? alive
14. Where were you last night? couch
15. What you're not? mobile
16. Muffins? carrot
17. One of your wish list items? health
18. Where you grew up? here
19. The last thing you did? email
20. What are you wearing? boot
21. Your TV? news
22. Your pets? none
23. Your computer? consuming
24. Your life? chaotic
25. Your mood? anxious
26. Missing someone? yes
27. Your car? parked
28. Something you're not wearing? bra
29. Your summer? gimpy
30. Like someone? yeah
31. Favorite color? blue
32. When is the last time you laughed? earlier
33. Last time you cried? monday

I Won?!??

My dear friend Shell has nominated me..or rather tagged me with a blogger award...geez thanks Shell...i would have posted sooner without an award like this!!
Shell and I met at a TLC (Top Line Creations) convention in Las Vegas in 2005! We both sat at the California table and low and behold...she only live ~30 miles down the road in San Jose. We became fast convention pals and continued..for some reason however..we dont see each other much during the year..now that we wont be attending TLC conventions..we'll have to come up with another plan to rectify that!! So..thanks for the Award, Shell..I'll blog more so i dont get another. HA!

copying..and pasting from Shell...Ok so I have to pick 5 people now - the rules are below my picks. This is not easy either - cos some of the ones I wanted to pick have been picked already - and we don't want a whole merry go round of awards!

Karen Burniston - Karen is one of my favorite celebrity bloggers to read. She has such humor in the way she writes

P-Dub - I know Shell nominated her..and I'm sure the entire blog reading population of the world has nomiated her..but she truly deserves it. Like Karen, she has a total way with words that just cannot be. Her recipes are yummy, her backstory about how she met, courted, married her husband has me swooning, she lives on a ranch with some pretty hot cowboys!..and what the heck..she has a sister name Betsy!

Laurie S. - Laurie and I met through a yahoo group..and then another yahoo group and got to scrap in person. We probably on scrap once a year since we live on each side of the bay..but she's a wonderful woman, and it's been wonderful to see her get married and the birth of her children etc. I love reading her blog..and while you're there, take some time to donate to the Walk she's doing for her son!!

Scrap Lovers at A work of Heart - say that 5 times fast. Andrea (A Work of Heart) and I have known each other since 2004. We both do Scrapbooking for Others, and met on a yahoo group associated with it. Andrea was looking for people to contract pages, when she got swamped (she's uber talented), but I didnt meet with her for over a year because I was afraid, even though my clients liked my work..would hers. We both attended the same CKU in San Jose..and then eventually met up at her studio where I worked on some pages for her, as well as taught classes and helped out with the studio. Kristina, (ScrapLovers) is her new business partner ..and is a very talented woman in her own mind with a ton of great ideas. I'm super inspired by these women every time I'm in their presence and look forward to updates on their blog with the latest studio/store happenings.

Amuse Art Stamps - I've been a fan for about 3 years. My friend Sonja introduced me when I had a stamp day with her..and then enabled me by bringing me down to a local store that carried the stamps. I've since joined an 'addicts' group (funny they enable more than help you get over your addicition) and am first in line to buy new stamps when they're released. Linda is very talented, as are all her designers and instructors. Amuse is one of the first blogs I read through reader to catch up on my blogs (where did i not find reader for so very long..especially when using blogger!!) and I hope that one day I can take a class from Linda in person!!

Ok..here are the rules...
For those of you receiving the Award, here are the rules:
1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3) Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her or him the award itself.
4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award. http://arteypico.blogspot.com/Make sure you visit the link above. There are crafts of all kinds shown you are bound to come away inspired!
5) Show these rules.

four things

My sister sent this to me..so thought it would be easier to post here:

A) FOUR PLACES I GO OVER AND OVER:


1. Target

2. Trader Joe's

3. work (it pays the rent)

4. church (it's Lent...I better be going!)


B) FOUR PEOPLE WHO E-MAIL ME: (Regularly):
A. Cindy, Mom, Donna, Aimee



C) Four of my favorite foods:

ice cream, chocolate chip cookies (and dough), Mexican food, any pasta

D) Four places I would rather be right now:
1) someplace warm and tropical
2) Shopping w/ someone else's credit card
3) Yosemite
4) visiting my sweet niece & nephew

E) Four movies I would watch over and over:
1) Pretty woman
2) Sweet Home Alabama
3) When Harry Met Sally
4) Billy Madison


Tagging...Rachel, Jan, Shell & Kei

Celebrity Look alike

Some of the a muse girls have been posting celebrity look alikes on their blogs, so i thought i'd take a crack at it..people used to say I looked like Rosie O'Donnell,which at the time I liked her so didnt mind it..but I dont care for her outspoken ways much anymore...so am glad to see she's not on the list.

I feel like Miss Mary Ann...

Do you remember her? from Romper Room? am I dating myself? At the beginning of every show, she's look in her handheld mirror and "see' the kids that were on the show..or 'watching' the show, you were quite lucky if she mentioned your name (even if it was to all the betsey's in the world).

How does this apply to me you say? I was on linked in this weekend. Linked in is like a 'professional's' myspace. You list your past job history and recruiters look at it..old colleages..it's like an online resume..and people can even 'recommend' your work, so it's like your personal referrals are right there...anyway..i digress. I was on it this weekend because someone had requested to add me to their network..while i was there I found my old VP as well as an additional bunch of old colleauges. Luckily i requested to add them and they all agreed to be my 'friends'.
When i went on today..it said there were 50 new gymboree connections. I pretty much 'knew' all of them...at least by name. I truly felt like Miss MaryAnn...between the finding them, and that fuzzy feeling of old home week. Most all were from my first 'stint' at Gymboree (mind you i was only gone for 7 months), and all brought back that warm fuzzy feeling from our time at Camelot. I even saw 'sweater vest' listed there, should you happen to read this old Prod people!!

Slacker Scrappers

Happy New Year....I've tried to post 3 times...but I've had some serious blogger/IE issues, and each time my post got eaten...bottom line...went to Park City and Salt Lake City over New Years..had a great time tooling around Park City...made it to TLC and AMM whie Pierre was in meetings..and had a supercalafragilisticexpealidocious catch up lunch with my dear friend, Susan Russell. Had camera in purse...no picture!! What the heck!?? Too much chatting I suppose.

Pierre will have to make many more trips out there (he's one of the project manager's for his firm project for the new Hospital in Riverton,so hope to post a picture for sure next time.

My cocktail

From Rachel Hope and Michelle's blogs:

The Recipe For Betsey

3 parts Sensitivity 2 parts Inspiration 1 part Courage Splash of Cleverness Chug!

What's" the Recipe for Your Personality?

Hoopla!

Here are the rules:1. List 12 random things about yourself that have to do with Christmas2. Please refer to it as a 'hoopla' and not the dreaded 'm'-word3. You have to specifically tag people when you're done. None of this "if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged" stuff is allowed...then nobody ends up actually doing it. The number of people who you tag is really up to you -- but the more, the merrier to get this 'hoopla' circulating through the blogosphere.4. Please try and do it as quickly as possible. The Christmas season will be over before we know it and I'd like to get as many people involved as possible.I was tagged by Rachel to list the 12 random things about myself that have to do with Christmas.

1. I'm addicted to Egg Not Lattes.
2. My favorite movie, I havent seen in years..and for the life of me cant remember the name. But they had a Thanksgiving version and a Christmas version and the girls name was Addie..I think it was set in the 30's?
3. We go to Christmas Eve at my dad's cousins.
4. We used to sometime celebrate Christmas 'Day' on the 26th. My dad was a firefighter and would have to work some years..so we'd do the traditional Christmas Eve thing and then 'santa' would come on the 26th..my parents always said it was a nice break for him. Although when we were super young..Santa would come early and we'd celebrate with Santa coming on the 24th.
5. I have not put up a tree in 3 years.
6. I'm allergic to all things Christmas Tree (the real live kind..whether, pine, fir or cedar) and sneeze uncontrollably, unless I'm hopped up on allergy meds.
7. My little tree has a blue/white/silver theme to it.
8. My mom has a whole storage box of ornaments I hope to put on my 'big tree' some year, of ornaments, I've rec'd since I was a baby. She has them tagged with the year and who gave it to me. On a TINY jewelry tag.
9. One of my fondest memories is the Holiday Party my grandparents used to have. I was never old enough to attend as a 'guest' but super young, my parents would bring us and we'd say hello in our jammies and then go upstairs to my aunts room to sleep. As we were older (jr high/early high school) we'd serve hors d'ouevres. My uncle picked up the tradition this year.
10. My dad will either make Egg's St. Anne (his own concoction I'm sure) or some sort of dish with Hollandaise (either Egg's Benedict or Turkey Hash) for breakfast Christmas morning.
11. Santa fills our stockings and puts gifts under the tree!
12. I still believe!!

I am tagging: Keith, Shell & Jan and my sister & Donna can chime in on the comment sections since they're not bloggers.

Small World!

My boss took her direct reports to lunch yesterday. We went to Osha for some yummy Thai food..of course did I branch out? nope..got my normal Chicken Pad Se Yeew. Just love that dark soy sauce on those rice noodles! And while my not branching out keeps my world small..that is not the subject of my post. I sat next to, and got to know our Sales/Use Tax manager. He had mentioned on the walk over that he and his family just bought a fixer upper. While we were at lunch, I asked him where he lived..so he mentioned they just moved to Walnut Creek from San Ramon. No big deal..he then asks where I live..I told him Burlingame..he then says he grew up in San Bruno..two cities away..no big deal. He then asks if I grew up in Burlingame..and I told him..yep..all my life. Next he asks..or says..it's fuzzy at this point..did I go to Mercy..or that his sisters went to Mercy..as soon as he tells me his sisters went to Mercy..I shout out...Odessa Sebastian (his last name is Sebastian..in case you didnt know). Odessa and I were in the same graduating class together (all 98 of us)...he's her brother. Can you believe that? I dont think I've seen Odessa but maybe once since we've graduated (I didnt attend either 10 or 20 year reunion)..and here I am working with her brother. He was going to go right back and email her..and she only lives in San Mateo (one city away)....small world. Hope I can catch up with her soon, as while we werent exactly close friends, I do remember her fondly, and would love to get re-acquainted!